IOC freezes Nock funding as Olympics ban looms

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has moved to withhold all funding to National Olympic Committee-Kenya in the aftermath of Tuesday’s unsuccessful bid to have the national body amend its constitution.

Members of the Executive Committee of its national body shot down a vote to formally adopt a new constitution during the latest Extra Ordinary Meeting in Nairobi, as the vote tally fell below the required two-thirds threshold.

In an email sent to Citizen TV, IOC expressed their disappointment with the outcome that went against the tripartite agreement (IOC-NOC-Government authorities) reached in September last year in Lausanne and its roadmap discussions with Nock.

The IOC Head of Media Relations and Monitoring, Emmanuelle Moreau, told Citizen Digital that a spokesperson from the international organization felt Tuesday’s outcome of the Nock extraordinary General Assembly did not address governance issues in the appropriate way.

“The IOC is extremely disappointed by the outcome of the NOC extraordinary General Assembly which did not address governance issues in the appropriate way.

“This goes against the tripartite agreement (IOC-NOC-Government authorities) reached in September 2016 in Lausanne and the roadmap and discussions with the NOC over the last few months. The IOC is now putting on hold all payments of subsidies to the NOC of Kenya until a decision of the IOC Executive Board is taken at its meeting next week.

“The IOC is now putting on hold all payments of subsidies to the NOC of Kenya until a decision of the IOC Executive Board is taken at its meeting next week,” Moreau said in response to an inquiry from Citizen TV sports anchor Bernard Ndong’.

The IOC had sent Jerome Poive the Head of Relations on Institutional Governance and Mohamed Azzoug the Chief of Staff at the Association of National Olympics Committees of Africa (ANOCA) as observers to oversee the voting process of the Nock Constitution that required a two-thirds majority to be adopted.

However, Kenya edged closer to inviting serious sanctions for the IOC when the voting ended 19-13 to fall short of the expectation.

The Nock top brass acted in defiance with a directive from the IOC that required them to vote for the proposed laws to govern the national body that among other reforms, denied them the right to vote at subsequent elections in an effort to end the choke hold of a few officials at the helm of the institution.

Mocked by the result, the two IOC representatives left hurriedly after retired former world marathon record holder, Paul Tergat and Catherine Ndereba became the only Exco Members who declined to vote as a bloc with their colleagues led by the celebrated Olympics Laureate and President, Dr. Kipchoge Keino.

Their two votes were replaced by Swimming and Tae-Kwon-Do to give them the much needed status quo in the tensed meeting that left the country in an uncertain future as part of the international Olympics.

The country’s fate will be decided on March 16 and 17 during the IOC Executive Board meeting.